The presentation of complex information to users is a continuing challenge. This challenge is exacerbated by the explosion in data availability and mechanisms for data delivery, on the one hand, and by information needs, on the other. Extracting and delivering “information” from raw “data” is a new frontier, wherein we are challenged to match human perceptual capabilities with computer and communication system operations. The broadcast and webcast of formatted data to selected and general audiences is a common and increasingly important benefit of Internet and web technologies and networks. The ability to rapidly update databases and reports and promptly inform a multiplicity of users of relevant information, by either push or pull information modalities, is helping to provide the benefits of the information age to millions of people around the world. Yet the (often frequently updated) delivery of prodigious amounts of data (often in formatted structures) often creates an undesirable deluge of data which cannot be readily consumed by users.
In a vast number of circumstances, after data is gathered, the need exists to then package or convert the data into information that can be presented to one or more human beings for their cogitation or enjoyment. Addressing particularly those instances in which the information is or may be information that is actionable or could prompt action by the user, much attention has been given as to how best to present such information. In particular, a great deal of effort has gone into determining how to present complex, inter-related information visually, so as to facilitate a person quickly recognizing the inter-relationships among different data sets. Challenges exist as to how to present the information in a way that is most useful and discernible, and least susceptible to misinterpretation. For example, how to interrelate a geographical map with a portrayal of time-varying conditions, such as forecast weather conditions, on some portion(s) of the map, is a challenge. One could present a series of images, such as images projecting conditions at each of a succession of times, but there is no widely accepted way of presenting in a single image a representation of that whole sequence. Pilots planning their routes thus lack a single image which can convey to them the forecast for conditions along their intended route over a span of time.
Moreover, one pilot's need for information may differ from the next, and their interpretations of the data may treat the same data as conveying different information.
Similar needs exist in many different information domains, the foregoing example of pilots planning routes merely being exemplary. There is, therefore, a long felt need to provide formatted data and reports to populations of users in a method that allows each user or many users to flexibly specify priorities of interest by the user, or certain aspects of meaning, in particular types and values of information contained in the provided data, and in preferred methods of presentation.